Get ready for gritty heavy rock from Albuquerque with a new album from BLUE HERON. Raspy, terrifying roars meet brooding, turbulent low end. “Dinosaur,” the band’s latest music video, comes midway through the new 9-tracker, ‘Everything Fades’ (2024), their second full-length, which is just about as down to earth as you could ask for.

“Dinosaur” begins ominously with a dank, questioning riff that leads into a mysterious cool-of-the-morning desert-stoner metal groove, with bittersweet bluesy touches throughout the song. Jadd Shickler’s vocals are reminiscent of those epic early High on Fire tracks, somewhat cleaner than Matt Pike’s singing approach but no less gravelly and fearsome. Meanwhile Mike Chavez on guitar and Steve Schmidlapp on bass rustle up a storm of gut splitting heft, driven by a fierce and determined rhythm from drummer Ricardo Sanchez.

Towards the 4 minute mark things get slow and doomy like the steady advance of pregnant rain clouds draping across the sky, perhaps an omen of whatever great and mysterious calamity befell the alpha predator’s of planet earth’s past (and a warning that we too may go the way of the dinosaurs).

Blue Heron’s Everything Fades is rooted in the mood and verve of the High Desert. The band’s sound on this record has a tangible feeling of mass, weight, and depth. It comes out on September 27th on Blues Funeral Recordings and can be pre-ordered on vinyl, compact disc, and digital formats right here. Stick it on a playlist with High on Fire, Egypt, Lamassu, Forming The Void, and Red Messa.

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

Blue Heron expand on their unyielding desert sound with a new slab of propulsive, sun-scorched riff-heaviness. 'Everything Fades’ (2024) finds the band reveling in low-tuned roil and amplifier hum, churning out swerving grooves as if the primordial spirit of the desert itself compels them.

Balanced between laid-back, meditative atmospherics and heavier, more aggressive lunges, Blue Heron’s cruising jams and gritty stoner romps call to mind echoes of Kyuss, Clutch and Monster Magnet, as well as modern contemporaries Valley of the Sun and Greenleaf.

Full of rhythmic intensity, sledgehammer riffing and vocals ranging from clean and moody to howling and raw, 'Everything Fades’ covers a wide expanse of musical ground that shows how familiar influences can always be molded into inventive, exciting new forms.

Surrounded by endless horizons, Blue Heron formed in 2018 out of a compulsion to fill the vastness with massive volume, saturating their piece of desert with rolling, thunderous riffs, drums that pummel and swing, deep, thrumming tones and vocals that rip and roar.

Blue Heron’s guitarist and singer were founding members of Spiritu, possibly Albuquerque, New Mexico’s first desert rock band, whose brief burn in the early aughts included a Jack Endino-produced LP, a European tour with Clutch, Spiritual Beggars and Dozer, and a compilation appearance alongside Entombed and Mastodon.

Their debut LP “Ephemeral” arrived in May of 2022 via Kozmik Artifactz in Europe and Seeing Red Records in the USA. Substantial appreciation in the underground led to performances at Ripplefest Texas and Monolith on the Mesa and opening slots for The Well, Elder, Black Mountain, Ruby the Hatchet, Howling Giant, Heavy Temple and The Obsessed, along with a swath of positive reviews throughout the heavy media.

History is full of takes of people who’ve frozen to death, or nearly. Like Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to the Antartic, in which his ship was frozen in the icy waters and his crew was forced to endure great hardship in unimaginably freezing temperatures, bringing them to near madness.

Today, Doomed & Stoned brings you the latest track from desert stoner-doomers RED MESA, prelude to their new album ‘Partial Distortions’ (2024), their roiling, rumbling doom-worshipping fourth album. Solid through and through.

“Dying in the Cold Sun” features forlorn riffs, stalwart drumming, excellent basslines, and strong, rapsy vocals. Fans of Pallbearer and High on Fire take notice. Reached for comment, frontman Brad Frye says:

I wanted to write a song about freezing to death, as I frequently think about that as a possible great way to die. Go out into the frozen wilderness and just walk…until the cold overtakes me. The song however, came out far more gloomy and tortured than a peaceful farewell. We are calling this our “blackened desert” sound blending desert, doom, and black metal to give you a thundering dirge. Certainly one of the heaviest songs in the Red Mesa vault.

Mark April 19th on your calendars, when Red Mesa’s Partial Distortions will be revealed, releasing on Desert Records and Majestic Mountain Records.

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

‘Partial Distortions’ shows a powerful return of the Albuquerque, NM heavy desert rock trio Red Mesa with their fourth full-length. The album will be released on April, 19th 2024 via Desert Records (North America) and Majestic Mountain Records (Europe).

This 6-track album features the same lineup from their 2020 release ‘The Path to the Deathless’ and the 2022 single ‘Forest Cathedral’.

The record shows further collaboration between band members as guitarist/vocalist Brad Frye, bassist/vocalist Alex Cantwell, and drummer/vocalist Roman Barham all contributed musically and lyrically throughout the album.

Red Mesa has been leading the new generation of desert rock by proving that the genre is capable of greater expanses. The trio has expanded their signature heavy desert sound on ‘Partial Distortions’ to include more doom and sludge metal moments.

“Blackened desert” sound collages and an overall doomier and downright frightening musical path will confront the listener, as the album is darker musically and thematically. All whilst still dwelling within an optimism that instills hope that amongst the loss, the tragic endings, and the suffering that this existence brings, that life is still worth living.

Imagine the clash of colors borne of a cosmic collision between late-stage Kyuss, primordial Clutch, and Down On The Upside era Soundgarden and you’ve an inkling of the fuzz phenomenon that is BLUE HERON. The raunchy, bristly desert rock crew from Albuquerque recently gave us a gnarly interpretation of “Walk All Over You” for the Back in Black redux on Magnetic Eye Records. Fusing elements of the earth with wide open skies, the Blue Heron verve is best ciphered by the band itself:

Surrounded by endless horizons that spark a compulsion to fill the vastness with massive volume, we saturate our piece of desert with rolling, thunderous riffs, drums that pummel and swing, deep, thrumming tones and vocals that rip and roar.

Today, Doomed & Stoned brings you an effective demonstration of Blue Heron’s prowess with their music video “Futurola.” I suspect the song has less to do with primo paper for rolling your blunts, and more to do with vision of the future one sees in those ethereal wafts of smoke. Heading out with a rumbling Truckfighters vibe, “Futurola” unfurls like a hearty desert plant, brushing aside flecks of parched soil to reveal a stark crimson bloom. There is less pomp here than melancholy here, with lyrics lamenting the apathetic quagmire of a post-COVID world:

There was a time when common good
Kept the wolves from our doors
Now the pull of self-interest
Undermines who we were before

This is a land of followers
Disappointed with our hand
Give us the mirage of leaders to hail
And without water we’ll drink the sand

Jadd Shickler’s vocal intonations are full of heart and gristle, an apt companion to the ultra-low notes generated by Mike Chavez’s guitar. Bassist Steve Schmidlapp and drummer Ricardo Sanchez make a robust rhythmic pair to match to complete a sound born of extended days in the arid Rio Grande rift and cold, starry nights among the Sandia Mountains.

And this is only the beginning, with seven more tracks to follow “Futurola” on Blue Heron’s debut album. ‘Ephemeral’ (2022) makes its explosive entrance on May 27th as a joint release between Seeing Red Records and Kozmik Artifactz. You can pre-order the record here.

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

For decades now, bands across the planet have blasted out their versions of heavy, fuzz-driven rock, driven by a deep and mystical fascination with the desert. Blue Heron is a heavy rock band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, whose firsthand relationship with the desert is inextricable from who they are and how they sound - they embody the tag 'Desert-Rock’ to its core.

Blue Heron’s guitarist and singer were the founding members of Spiritu, possibly Albuquerque’s first desert rock band, who burned briefly yet brightly with a Jack Endino-produced debut LP, a European tour with Clutch, Spiritual Beggars and Dozer, and a compilation slot next to Entombed and Mastodon.

On December 3rd, 2021, Blue Heron self-released the 'Black Blood of the Earth’ EP, the same month contributing a track to Magnetic Eye Records’ Best of AC/DC [Redux] alongside Kryptograf, Kal-El, Supersuckers, Domkraft and more.

Of the debut EP, 'The Big Takeover’ said, “Blue Heron hits the sweet spot at the center of a vortex around which swirls sensual stoner doom, thuggish heavy blues and bad trip psychedelia,” and Real Gone Rocks called Black Blood of the Earth, “an instantly classic slab of stoner.”

'Ephemeral’ (2022), Blue Heron’s debut full-length, is an 8-track, 47-minute exploration of heavy rock at its fullest. Excavating the far reaches and connected strata of stoner rock, sludge, doom, heavy psych and post-metal, Blue Heron transmute years of engagement with rock and metal’s profuse branches into a singular, sand-scorching epic.

With lyrical threads ranging from mortality and failed civilizations to mythic fables and cinematic re-imaginations, Ephemeral is stylistically diverse, thematically ambitious and unassailably relentless in its raw, desert power.

Blue Heron’s 'Ephemeral’ arrives on May 27th from Seeing Red Records in North America and Kozmik Artifactz in Europe.

I like to listen to this record in the still of early morning (you can go ahead and cue up opening track “Ghost Bell” right now). I immediately identify it with the dawning sun spreading over a still cool, but arid landscape that it gradually warms to a stunning heat.

RED MESA may draw textures from desert and stoner rock, southern metal, the blues, even avant garde music, but it is a doom band through and through – doom with a strong sludge flavor, I hasten to add. One pictures a grizzled bard with a five-o’clock shadow and his instrument in hand wandering the wasteland with a half-crazed look in his eye, only he is more enlightened than folks assume, for he comes bearing stark tales of the strange thing he has seen and heard first hand.

This is ‘The Path of the Deathless’ (2020), the third full-length from the Albuquerque, New Mexico trio (we last found them in fine form with the The Devil and the Desert), followed by a split with Blue Snaggletooth on Ripple Music’s The Second Coming of Heavy). As soon as I heard the new LP, I knew the band had hit their stride.

Brad Frye’s gravelly vocal attack on “The Path of the Deathless” reminds me of Dave Sherman’s Earthride and Weed is Weed projects.

Coming out of a big hole
Open my mind, open my soul
I walk the path
The path of the Deathless

The song’s mid-section breaks into a quasi-psychedelic interlude with sparse keyboards and a slow walking bass, which builds into a climax that triggered flashbacks to the first Goatess album for me.

The heartbeat quickens with Frye chugging on guitar with the peppy rhythm section of Alex Cantwell (bass) and Roman Barham (drums). And speak of the devil, Dave Sherman makes an appearance on “Desert Moon” (I swear I didn’t realize it until I looked at the album credits seconds ago!). It’s all coming together for me now.

“Death I Am” gives us the more intimate experience seated in the shade from a scorching mid-day sun, with acoustic guitar and traditional folk rock vox accented by pedal steel from Alex McMahon (a New Mexico native from the band Wildwood).

Heat rises off the highway
Buzzards overhead
The desert always stones me
Can’t get you out of my head

Having heard from Mr. Sherman, it’s only approached we hear from the legendary Scott Weinrich, too. Most of us know him simply as Wino, one of the great singer-songwriters of our time, “unsung” in the sense that I don’t think he’s gotten the broader recognition that he deserves (I consider him to be the Bob Dylan of the heavy underground).

There’s nothing left I can give you
Time, Money, or Worth…
Patience is facing your execution
With calm, pride, and dignity

Wino gives an uncharacteristically disquieting performance on “Disharmonious Unlife,” a song about trying to get your life together but meeting with discouragement on the path to recovery and wholeness. A short but sweet solo joins the song’s closing moments, which may be Wino’s.

After a brief but effective page turner (“Revelation”), we’re ushered into the album’s final chapter, “Swallowed by the Sea.” Don’t hate me, but I couldn’t help thinking of the Outback stylings of those early Silverchair tracks as I listened. Perhaps it’s the loneliness of the singing contrasted with the rumbling of the guitar and that soul-stirring violin (from the aptly named Kristen Rad) that accompanies the song’s chorus. Certainly, it’s the most contemplative number of the lot, as we might expect from an album’s “sunset” closer.

Sleep comes and then we wait
For the tide to return
Will the moon allow us to be
Swallowed by the sea

Red Mesa’s The Path to the Deathless is an experience-and-a-half, rich with atmosphere, with a rough 'n’ tumble sound, and heavy lyrical content. It was produced by Matthew Tobias at Empty House Studio (who’s worked with OM and Supergiant) and mastered by John McBain (original Monster Magnet guitarist). Look for the release this weekend via Desert Records on limited edition vinyl, compact disc and digital formats (pre-order here). Today, Doomed & Stoned is pleased to bring you the album’s world premiere.

Give ear…

I’m a comic book fan and I’ll confess that I was not familiar with Sláine, a character-turned-universe originated by Pat Eamon Mills (who also had a hand in Judge Dredd). I guess the closest thing I can relate to Sláine, first published by the Brit weekly 2000 AD, is that ubiquitous savage Conan the Barbarian. The series, which launched in 1983, is built upon Celtic myths and ancient folk tales, with artists like Simon Davis, Massimo Belardinelli, Mike McMahon, Glenn Gabry, and Simon Bisley contributing their hand to the evolution of its distinctive style.

While brand new terrain for me, a band called THE HORNED GOD is making Sláine a whole lot easier to get into. From, they really bring the whole saga alive in their new album, ‘Volume: 1’ (2018). With tracks like “Exiled,” “Battle For The North,” “Hymn of Slough Feg,” and “Fodder Flax Fire and Frigg,” it’s impossible not to become invested in the storyline. Interestingly, the band actually commissioned legendary Simon Bisley (the featured artist of 1983’s 'Sláine: The Horned God’) to create art for the album cover. I have to say, it looks absolutely killer.

The wild stoner metal trio, based out of Albuquerque, sounds like they just might be descendants from a polygamous marriage between Monster Magnet, Gypsyhawk, and Kyuss. I audited the record sans interruption and it was a trip, baby, let me tell you! My adrenaline was flowing steadily from start to finish. I’d venture to guess this will not be music you’ll be able to listen to sitting down. I mean, you can try but be forewarned: your body will want to move! This is conquering music, after all, whether it’s taking on mercenaries with your Brainbiter or moving boxes around to organize your messy garage (with or without the benefit of warp spasm). Volume: 1 will BTFO of any and all who stand before its mighty riffs and rapacious rhythms!

If you get a chance to see Dominic (guitar, vox), Robson (bass), and Tim (drums) do their thing live, don’t miss it! Like GWAR, The Horned God are known to dress in costume – not always, but on special occasions. This adds a bit of intrigue to every show, as fans wonder, “Will they or won’t they?” According to Brad Frye from Red Mesa (whose label will be publishing The Horned God’s debut), these guys are the real deal. “This is one of the top heavy bands in Albuquerque,” he tells Doomed & Stoned. “There aren’t a lot of stoner, doom, desert, or psychedelic bands here, apart from Black Maria, Red Mesa, Prey for Kali, and The Horned God.” Apparently, they boys cover “a sick version” of “Supa Scoopa and the Mighty Scoop” by Kyuss at their live shows, as well. My fascination continues to build!

The Horned God releases Volume: 1 on Desert Records one week from now, on Friday, December 14th. This includes a limited edition vinyl release. You can pre-order this wild spin right here.

Today, Doomed & Stoned is giving you your first listen to “Battle for the North.” Asked for comment, The Horned God explained:

“Sláine was given a magical cauldron for outwitting the dark gods. Returning to Murias, and his tribe, after being exiled, and taking the throne left by his cousin Ragall, Sláine and his people fed from the cauldron, finding inspiration and strength, defeating Slough Feg, Balor of the Evil Eye and a horde of Fomorians in a Battle for the North!”

Give ear…

Some Buzz

The Horned God is a Cosplay band, based on the comic book masterpiece by Pat Mills, and Simon Bisley, Sláine: The Horned God.

Comic book writer Pat Mills brought the character of Sláine mac Roth, a Celtic barbarian warrior king who along with his axe Brainbiter and his ability to warp spasm in order to defend his people against the dark druid Slough Feg, to life in 1983 in his graphic novel series titled Sláine. In 1989 Pat Mills collaborated with illustrator Simon Bisley and published the three book series Sláine: The Horned God. In this series Sláine goes on a quest to collect four artifacts that once united will enable him to become high king and lead his people into battle in the hopes of saving them from Slough Feg and his army.

In 2012, the next adaptation of the story began in Albuquerque New Mexico when three friends took their love of the story and combined it with their passion of music and created the three piece cosplay stoner rock or as they call it, “Ancient Celtic inspired stoner rock, legends and lore, of love and war!” – a musical interruption appropriately named, The Horned God.

The Horned God consist of three members, Dominic on vocals and guitar, Robson on bass and Tim on drums. This one of a kind dynamic three piece bring the story of Sláine to life with lyrical dialog and narratives ripped from the pages of the book accompanied by full costume and projected comic book cells throughout the entire performance.

The Horned God has harvested the souls of countless unknowing humans and sacrificed them to the dark gods of Cythrawl. They will continue to harvest souls on their quest to make music for the sake of making music and to have fun while expressing themselves musically. They would like to play some regional comic conventions and then ultimately play larger conventions, especially the San Diego comic convention.

The Horned God attribute their musical influences to bands such as Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Dozer, Mark Lanegan and a little touch of Nomeansno. You can hear these influences in their music as well as classic rock gods in their own right, Black Sabbath.

The Horned God is three seasoned, talented musicians who just want to make amazing music and have fun doing it. They bring to the local scene not just a show but an experience unlike all others with the musical talent to back it. The saga continues for Sláine and The Horned God!

When I was 15, my dad took me on a road trip to his old stomping grounds of Silver City, New Mexico. There’s something about this part of the planet that calls me. The high desert is a planet all its own, bearing Martian colors of red clay, orange copper, turquoise minerals, cactus green, and brown stone. The storied history of outlaws like Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch and the lawmen that fought them are embedded in the cultural zeitgeist.

From Silver City, we travelled roughly four hours north through long, lonely stretches of two-lane blacktop (including Route 66, one America’s first highways) until we reached Albuquerque, the biggest city in the state. This I recognized, at least by name, from old Bugs Bunny cartoons, in which the tunneling rabbit would pop out of his hole, look around, and remark, “I must have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque!”

No wrong turn today, however, as Doomed & Stoned premieres a brand new track by Albuquerque trio RED MESA. We last covered the band in these pages when they brought us that remarkable split with Blue Snaggletooth on Ripple Music’s Second Coming Of Heavy series, reviewed by Corey Lewis.

This weekend, desert meets doom as Red Mesa releases their second full-length, four years after their eponymous debut. ‘The Devil and The Desert’ (2018) does a remarkable job of absorbing you into its world, much as Texas duo Canyon of the Skull did last year with The Desert Winter. Red Mesa have a story to tell, a story that at times surreal, celebratory, and forlorn. Drawing upon a legacy of outlaw country, folk, and Americana for the first half, fuzzy stoner groove, trippy psychedelic rock, and hard-bitten doom for the second, Red Mesa’s new spin is indeed a journey. Each track takes us ever deeper into the conversations of a wandering, solitary soul with El Diablo about his fate.

You can preorder Red Mesa’s The Devil and The Desert on a limited vinyl run via their own label, Desert Records here. Having given us a taste of the album’s title track already, today the band streams another cut: “Route 666.”

Give ear…

Interview with Red Mesa

Frontman Bradley Frye

What’s the scene like in New Mexico?

That’s a hard one to answer. New Mexico is a big state and the towns are very spread out, so I can really only speak for Albuquerque. I would say as a whole, the musicianship is very high here. Lots of very talented players in all genres of music. Albuquerque is kind of a weird, high desert town, and that makes the music and arts here pretty weird, but in a good way. The bands here are very unique; no one is copying each other. The hard rock/stoner-doom/desert-psych scene isn’t very large, though. That’s one of the big goals of the band is to unite a community here to get New Mexico on the map as cool place for heavy music. The desert, landscape, and culture are very inspiring, great for creativity. I’m so inspired living here. I lived for ten years in the Seattle area before moving down here in 2010. That area is incredible, but I got so bummed out from the gray skies and constant rain. Here, it’s sunny 300 days a year and that can become addicting.

How did Red Mesa get together?

I moved to 'burque in 2010 with the sole purpose of putting together a desert rock band. By late summer of 2013, I finally got the original lineup together. Red Mesa is a trio. The original drummer and bass player are local New Mexicans. We started recording a demo in the fall of 2013. Those songs and others became our self-titled debut that came out in August of 2014.

What has transpired with the band in the four years since your first album?

A lot of ups and downs. Our original jam spot was in an old boxcar that a storage place had converted into storage units, but let a few bands jam. Hot as hell in the summer and freezing in the winter. Sounded like shit. Then the reality of balancing full-time jobs, families/relationships, and a band was tricky. The labor of love. People who don’t play music or haven’t been in bands don’t often realize how challenging it is to manage all those things and not have everything fall apart. There’s no money in making and playing original heavy music, the equipment-amps, guitars, drums, pa system, etc. is very expensive, the time commitment can be detrimental to families and relationships, and then to top it all off the band members must be on the same page (or at least the same chapter) musically and personally.

That being said, we meshed pretty well from the start. Recorded the self-titled debut album in 2014. We recorded a video for the song “Low and Slow” that caught the attention of Bucky Brown from Ripple Music. He passed that on to Todd from Ripple, who asked us to record an EP for the Second Coming of Heavy vinyl compilation. That split with Blue Snaggletooth came out in 2016.

In between the first album and waiting for the EP on Ripple to come out, Red Mesa lost a lot of steam. I realized the original members could never tour. I put the band on hiatus and moved up to Seattle for a year in 2015. Played in The Misery Men from Portland. Moved back down to Albuquerque in 2016 in time for the EP to come out. Resurrected the band for the release. Then, we began jamming new material, but things just never quite picked up again. As I was writing the material for “The Devil and The Desert” in the summer of 2017, we parted ways with the bass player, and then the drummer left for family reasons. That left me with no band, and I had already booked studio time and had written half an album. So I sat down with Matthew Tobias from Empty House Studio and we put together a game plan. For Side A of “The Devil and The Desert” Matthew introduced me to a bass player and a lap steel player/guitarist, Jon McMillian and Alex McMahon, who laid down bass, lap steel and additional guitars in the studio. Matthew played drums on the entire album. I played bass on Side B.

That still left me without a band, but by the late winter of this year (2018) I assembled a killer new lineup. Roman Barham (Black Maria, Jagged Mouth, Rezin Tree) is Red Mesa’s new drummer. Randy Martinez (Hounds Low, Jagged Mouth) is our new bass player. We’ve played a bunch of shows in Albuquerque that have been so fucking fun. I love this lineup. We’ve been hosting some rad bands like Earthless, Spirit Adrift, Ruby the Hatchet, Youngblood SuperCult. Earthride is going to play on our album release show on June 15th!

The new album comes out Friday June 1st. I’m excited. The band has a lot of energy right now. We are fired up and have some exciting things in the works.

Can you tell us more about the story underlying 'The Devil and The Desert’?

It’s my first attempt at writing a concept album. The album takes place in the desert. It’s a journey through a strange desert land where the protagonist beckons the devil to “come out to play.” The songs weave through different experiences and landscapes where the character searches for the devil only to find out the devil is himself. A construct of being a human being. We can choose to be a good or bad person. This album is my creative way of dealing with personal issues of depression, isolation, frustration, fear, self-destructive behavior, lust, addiction. Things that we all struggle with. It was very relieving for me to finish recording this album.

Who did your album cover and how does the art fit into the album’s concept?

The artist is Joe Vollan. He paints doom folk art. When I contacted him, I asked him to paint a devil in the foreground with a desert background. His style is skulls with animal masks and creepy but friendly creatures set in a post-apocalyptic landscape. Thought it was perfect for the idea behind the album where a person can choose to “wear” a devil mask and bring out their dark side, the devil being a construct of human nature. Some details about the painting: There is a both the sun and moon in the painting – the balance of light and dark. The devil has a card in his hat. The card was created by Joe Vollan. It’s the ace of spades as a tribute to Lemmy. It has the roman numerals XIII representing the “death” card in Tarot. Joe told me before he started painting that he had been wanting to use an “undead raven” for a long time. He felt it was the perfect theme for it.

Can you illuminate the songs a little more for us?

Side A of the album is acoustic/electric. I played a 70’s Guild D-40 on all the tracks on the first side. Songs like “Devil Come Out to Play,” “Desert Sol,” and “The Devil’s Coming Round” are almost ten years old. I just never felt like it was the right time to record them until this record. I wrote them on acoustic guitars in Seattle and Maine, where I was born and raised. This was before I moved to the desert. I was always imagining living somewhere in the SW in the desert. So I had created this “desert” sound and songs for myself on the acoustic guitar to transport myself to the desert. Escapism. What a powerful force for creativity.

Side B is heavy, doomy, and psychedelic. The song “Route 666” is basically about Route 66 on Central Avenue, here in Albuquerque. There are parts of this street that is about as scummy, scuzzy, and sketchy as you can imagine. It goes right through the heart of the city and downtown. It changes so much in terms of really cool areas with great bars, clubs, breweries, restaurants, to just fucking nasty areas of prostitution, drugs, extreme poverty and homelessness, and filth. Pretty much like any city. But because it’s the infamous Route 66, it has a weird charm to it. Abandoned desert-themed motels with old neon signs. Tumbleweeds. Cowboy boot stores. Mexican owned taco trucks. Discount liquor stores. It’s such a great background for imagery. You can almost hear Satan say, “Fuck yeah, this place is perfect to steal some souls.”

When the director and producers for “Breaking Bad” visited Albuquerque, they realized they had to film the show here. Perfect backdrop for the show. They filmed all up and down Route 66 on Central. I wanted to highlight that feeling and scenery for the song. You are along for a ride with the devil on Route 666.

What kind of gear are you guys using to produce your sound and perform your songs?

My two main guitars are a 2011 Gibson SG and a 1975 Aria 335 Hollowbody (Gibson lawsuit copy). I’ve been running the guitars into either a 1976 Ampeg VT-22 or a 1996 Budda Twinmaster. Both of those are combos, but I hook them up to my red Bogner 4x12 cabinet that has a bunch of different speakers in it.

My pedal board is currently a broken Dunlop wah pedal (it can’t really wah, it’s just a nasally boost that I use for some leads on songs like “Self-Destruction” and “Going to The Desert.” I have three different fuzz pedals that I use in a row, which is probably really stupid, but I like fuzz pedals and they all have a different sound, so I use them for specific parts of songs. My main fuzz is a Black Arts Toneworks Pharaoh Fuzz. That’s all over the new album. I recently got a Minotaur Fuzz and Burn, which is real gnarly. I also use a Noise Diet Submarine fuzz, Seattle made, which brings some serious low end on guitar. I’ve been using the same delay pedal since the beginning of Red Mesa, a Way Huge Aqua Puss. I use it on a ton of songs, and use it for all live shows. My tremolo is an Earthquaker Devices Hummingbird. I’ll throw an EHX nano reverb pedal on the back end and leave it on.

What’s in Red Mesa’s crystal ball?

Man, we need to hit the road. I’m working to get us on a West Coast/Pacific Northwest tour by the fall to promote the album and play with a bunch of rad bands. Red Mesa has never toured. It’s time. And in 2019, I plan to get back into the studio with the new rhythm section and record another record. We are going to work hard to play some festivals next year, as well.

Last month, I was contacted out of the blue by a fascinating band nestled in the desert of New Mexico. The heavy sludge duo is called ORYX and after one listen to their debut record Widowmaker (2014), I was intrigued and asked them for an interview.

BillyGoat: Most of us are content to listen to music, but something within the two of you has the urge to pick up instruments and play. What motivates you to make music of your own?

Tommy: Making music has become an intrinsic part of life since before I was a teenager, and over time it became really hard to watch a band play an amazing set and not aspire to do what they do. Within the past couple of years, bands I’ve seen live that have inspired me I’d have to mention Mutilation Rites, Sickoids, Criaturas, The Body, No Statik, Primitive Man, and I’d really have to say True Widow even though we saw them almost a couple years ago now, just seemed to have something that really stuck with me personally. When these bands play, it drew me in, and didn’t let me go until they were done playing. That alone is something I’ve always wanted to pull off. Also… the eternal quest for tone has driven me mad. Electric Wizard, Graves at Sea, Eyehategod, Thou, Sleep, Buried at Sea are a few of the bands that I listen to constantly; these bands stir up something in me that forces me to create heavy music and I dig the shit out of them for having the power to do that to anyone.

Abbey: For me personally, I was eager to start to play music, rather than just going to shows and listening to it. I wanted to be a part of it and more than just someone in the audience. I’ve been going to shows for close to ten years now and have always admired those who could get up in front of a crowd of strangers and play their heart out. I wanted to do that, and I wanted to do that with doom. I’m motivated by the bands that have inspired me over the years, the people we’ve met through our music, and just the gratification I get from beating the hell out of my drums. It’s a way to express feelings I sometimes can’t find words for.

BillyGoat: As we conduct this interview, I am in Eugene, Oregon and you are Las Cruces, New Mexico—two very different landscapes. A forest dweller myself, I’m fascinated to know—what do you dig about the desert and how does it touch the music you write and perform?

Tommy: The desert has some really extreme geographical aspects that influence me to write more extreme music… the mountains stab straight out of the ground, all of the plants are evolved to survive intense heat and lack of water. We get thunderstorms like the rest of the country, but when the thunder strikes here, people retreat into their houses. Walls shake. There is incredible energy in the desert. Writing heavy music is the only appropriate response.

BillyGoat: Tell me about the name of the band—what affinity do you find with Oryx, the creature that (I’m assuming) is the namesake for the band?

Abbey: Oryx is a type of antelope that were imported from Africa to White Sands, which is a military “open” range on the other side of the mountains that Las Cruces borders. Their faces look as if they’re wearing corpse paint and their horns are huge straight giant impalers. So damned metal if you ask us…

BillyGoat: The process of putting “Widowmaker” together—your debut—tell us about that. You write that it was a two-year journey to this moment. Give us some insight into one or two of the challenges in putting together a 7-track album like this one.

Tommy: One of the biggest challenges we faced was putting an album out that we were genuinely happy with. Refining songs and writing to complete a concept seemed like an endless process. We entered into a journey to write an homage to the life lived expecting death, without fear. This was based on readings from The Tibetan Book of the Dead/Living and Dying, Book of Revelations, and Psychic Warrior. It’s the idea that meditation means readying yourself for the eternal transition into the dark unknown, living every day as though it is your last; having no fear of the quest that death brings, and instead welcoming it as the only inevitable truth in all of our lives. It was a two-year journey to complete, but a voyage worth taking, ‘Widowmaker’ is a debut we’re really proud of and stoked on. One of the other aspects that helped this album become what it is, was coming across recording engineer Travis Bonner… he wasn’t afraid to get on board with the concept we were trying to portray. That dude was very patient with us! (laughs)

BillyGoat: Ok, what’s next? Where is the band going from here? Give us some insight into your crystal ball.

Abbey: Next we tour ‘Widowmaker’! Three weeks in July; we’re so fucking excited to get back on the road… following that: Europe, Japan, and then the Moon!!!!!!